Okapi - Animal Guide

The okapi was discovered in 1901 by an English explorer, Harry Johnston and is considered one of the rarest animals in the world along with the pigmy hippopotamus and the giant panda. The most notable physical characteristic is the stripes on its body. The okapi's chocolate-brown body with the legs that remind you of those of a zebra's, as well as its body size and shape, resembles a horse; however, the study revealed that they have a special net of elastic blood vessels at the base of the brain called "wondernet", which makes the okapi the relative of the giraffe. Their skin-covered horns are another physical feature which the okapi and the giraffe share. These horns are located on the forehead and they are only small knobs on females. The okapi became well-known as the "only species maintaining the appearance of the giraffe before it evolved into the current form with the long neck." Okapis primarily feed on leaves. They use their long tongue to reach for leaves that grow higher than their height. Although they are usually nocturnal, okapis appear to become active during the day when enemies are not around. Okapis are solitary, which means that they move alone or in a pair. After a gestation period of about 400 days, females give birth to a single calf, which is weaned after 6 months. Young males begin developing horns at one year of age until 3 years of age.

Habitat

The okapi's habitat is restricted to the dense rainforest at the middle elevations in the northern regions of Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. Although the number of okapis was already small even at the time of the discovery, efforts are now made to conserve the specie in many zoos in the world. The word "okapi" means "a horse in the forest" in the language of the Pygmies.

Habitat range：
In the dense rainforest at middle elevations in northern Democratic Republic of Congo

About Red List

The Red List is the material prepared by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) classifying various threatened wild animals of the world and reporting their present habitat status.

The List evaluates the extinction risk level of each individual species from a biological viewpoint, but it possesses no legal power to enforce regulations concerning threatened species. The Red List is broadly employed as fundamental information in advancing the preservation of threatened wild animals.

Referring to the original Red List, the Environment Agency of Japan has compiled the Japanese edition of the List listing threatened taxa inhabiting Japan.

2016 Edition of the RED LIST CATEGORIES and classified as follows:

Extinct

EX

No known individuals remaining.

Extinct in the Wild

EW

Known only to survive in captivity, or as a naturalized population outside its historic range.

Critically Endangered

CR

Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

Endangered

EN

High risk of extinction in the wild.

Vulnerable

VU

High risk of endangerment in the wild.

Near Threatened

NT

Likely to become endangered in the near future.

Least Concern

LC

Lowest risk. Does not qualify for a more at-risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.